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I’m back. Where have I been, you might be wondering? Floundering with my family through the winter doldrums in Shanghai. Battling illness. Hunting for groceries. We’re on an upswing, so I’ve found time to write again. I’ve got lots of ideas….but first, Chinese New Year. I must tell you all about Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is actually a misnomer. Although most people call it Chinese New Year (CNY) it is also called the Spring Festival. The holiday spans 15 days and is the longest Chinese holiday. This year it began on January 30 and ended on February 13. We were lucky to be here in Shanghai to celebrate. We decided that it was important to experience some of the Chinese holidays and not jet off to some sunny beach destination. At some points during the week, I doubted our decision (AQI over 400?!?!) All in all, I think we made the right one.

There are many ways the Chinese celebrate this holiday…most revolving around food, family and fresh starts. And money. There is a lot of emphasis on money. A lot. Did I mention that money is important?

In the days before the “New Year’s Eve”, families prepare by cleaning their homes. They want to sweep away the old to make room for new good fortune. They also buy new clothes, get haircuts…freshen up their lives for the new year. And they wear red underwear. We didn’t jump on the red underwear bandwagon. I had visions of all of our clothes being pink! Homes are decorated with symbols and a lot of red.

This is the year of the horse, said to be a year of great power. However, if you were born in a previous year of the horse (2002 – like my daughter) it’s not such a good thing. This year she must be very cautious in her decision-making and wear red everyday. Here is a lovely article about the year of the horse – the author adds that 2014 is actually the year of the “Blue Wooden Horse” and how that affects those born in 2014. She also details how this year will affect the other members of my family, based on our horoscope:

Me: Dog – Irritation… Everything seems to be irritating a dog. You would like to break into the center of important events, but it does not look like you will succeed. (Not far from the truth – at least the irritation part!)

Husband: Rat – Oops, but it looks like this year is going to be a catastrophic one for you in every aspect. Most probably you are going to be in debt. (YIKES!)

Daughter #1: Dragon – You are going to use every opportunity to be noticed. (True. So very true.)

Son: Rooster – Everything looks good to Rooster, as long as it is not going to affect his own interests. (Pretty true of any 8 year old I know!)

Fish are also an important symbol at the new year, the Chinese word for “fish” is homophonous with the Chinese word meaning “excess or abundance”. So, if you put fish around your home, you will receive an abundant amount of money in the new year.

Our new year started with the departure of our ayi for her hometown. There is an annual migration – of Chinese people – the largest mammal migration in the world! Although that sounds weird, it’s true. This National Geographic article details this phenomenon. This very cool heat map shows where the Chinese are heading to. It’s a great visual of this annual occurrence!

Many, many, many Chinese people return to their homes to be with family. For most, the journey is difficult and very expensive. This is summed up by a catchy saying: “Rich or Poor, Home for New Year” (有钱没钱, 回家过年). (New York Times) There were many photos on the web of disgusting train cars, due to the massive influx of passengers. This article containing gross photos says it all. (In defense of the accused messy Chinese passengers, I usually find it difficult to find a trash bin around town. Not sure if there are many – if any? – on trains. I’ve never traveled by train. Seriously, check out these photos. Unbelievable.)

Crowds waiting to buy train tickets in Ningbo. Can you even imagine? Interested in more information? Watch The Last Train Home for more insight into this.

Our ayi is from Jiangsu, about a 4 hour drive from Shanghai. Before she left, we presented her with her hongbao – red envelope containing her bonus for the year.

It is sometimes this is called the 13th month, at least here in Shanghai. Most ayi expect an extra month of pay at Chinese New Year. (This should be discussed upon hiring, not a good thing to spring on your employer.) Some ayi will not return to work after the holiday if their hongbao is insufficient. The hongbao has it’s history in the Qin dynasty when the elderly would put coins on a red string to ward off evil spirits. That practice eventually evolved to the red envelope, maybe this is why money is tied so tightly to the new years customs? The amount of money contained in a hongbao should end with an even digit. 8’s are lucky. 4’s are not. (The number 4 “Sì” sounds like the word for death “Sǐ”) So, if your hongbao amount contains a “4″, round up. Please.

Honestly, I’m a bit confused about the whole hongbao thing. From what I’ve read, hongbao are the traditional gifts that adults give children. In practice, “children” can even mean young adults who are unmarried. Children ask for hongbao by saying “Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai!” It means Happy New Year! Give me a red envelope! I never saw this happen in Shanghai, and I’m quite glad as I didn’t carry around red envelopes full of cash to give to children. In Shanghai, it’s more of an employee thing? Drivers & ayis.

For Chinese New Year, we decided to stay at a hotel with some other families. We envisioned fireworks and festivities, a nice dinner…Instead we got 400+ AQI, firecrackers (not fireworks) and McDonald’s for dinner. Sigh. Live and learn. We learned a bit too late that the “real” fireworks happen at the END of Chinese New Year. The kids had fun in the hotel, but the smog was a real killer. (Pun intended.)

At our children’s school, the guards lit firecrackers to celebrate:

No, it’s not raining. That’s smog.

The view from our hotel room. More smog.

This was the lobby decoration at our hotel – lots of food that was looking at us. Deep into our souls.

The highlight of our CNY stay-cation was being invited to our drivers (Jason) parents home for lunch. What an honor to be the first “laowai” to dine with them in their home. After a serious pep talk to our kids – 2 are VERY picky eaters – we headed over to their apartment. It was a nice apartment, with a typical Chinese configuration. You entered through the kitchen, which was a narrow galley style with the bathroom at the end. (Didn’t use it, assuming it had a typical Chinese style squat toilet.) Jason’s father is a retired boat captain. He had spent the day (maybe days?) cooking for us. In fact, he kept cooking while we were there and the amount of food he prepared was astounding.

Here is the spread that Mr. Xie prepared for us:

Our kids and Jason’s daughter:

Mr. Xie feeding our son. Miraculously our son actually ate some of the food. I was proud of his maturity and respect. He’s 8:

I had seen these rubbery/gelatin fish all over town before Chinese New Year. Jason told us that they are used for decoration and then eaten after the new year. Traditionally, the fish should be pointed toward the head of the table, to the person who should be the most respected. Mr. Xie and my husband kept spinning the fish to face one another throughout the meal. It was funny:

After our meal, the kids went out with Jason’s daughter and got ice cream and potatoes on a stick:

During our CNY holiday, we also visited the Insect Museum which oddly also housed some goats, guinea pigs and chinchillas. We stayed super busy – once the air cleared – and had some great adventures with friends (about 1,000,000 of them) at Yu Yuan Garden. It was a great CNY in Shanghai, next year we’ll probably be jetting off to some exotic location, but I’m glad we stayed this year!

My husband and I love antiques. We’ve been collecting since we first met. One of our first purchases was an antique rocking horse which we named Simon. He has rolled around the country from where we acquired him – Orlando, Florida- to Miami, Michigan, Arkansas and Ohio. He did not make the trip to China, rather he’s resting in climate controlled comfort in Cincinnati with my antique piano, bookcase, tables, chaise lounge…you get the picture. We like old stuff.

There are lots of places to buy antiques here. We’ve just skimmed the surface by going to Hu & Hu where we found lovingly restored pieces at good prices. Dongtai Road is a good place to find “fake” antiques. We want to go to Green Antiques, but it’s quite far and our driver can’t figure out why we would want to go there to see old stuff. (They’ve got 10,000 square feet of old stuff. And a curator. How cool is that?) He just does not get it. Which is why I was inspired to write this post. Why do we (some of us) like old stuff and WHY do most of the Chinese hate it?

The Chinese culture no longer reveres old items. History is not in”things” rather, it is held in stories and traditions. The young Chinese love….IKEA. It’s new, shiny and reeks of Western lifestyle. (And particle board.) It’s also a great place to nap, or have lunch. That’s an entirely different post. Intrigued? Click here.

Old items remind them of the difficulties of the past. Old items are just waiting to be replaced. ***addendum from my father-in-law: “Another factor to consider why Chinese people don’t like old things was Mao’s cultural revolution.
One of the key philosophies of the revolution was for people to break from everything “old”; traditions, culture, monarchies. Everything old was “decadent”. (Thank you Bebo!)**

While I look at antiques as having a story to tell, the Chinese just don’t seem to care. Scratched and dented? I love it. Musty and cracked? Must have it.

We found the ultimate place to find Chinese treasures here in Shanghai. It’s called Shanghai Mu Lan Hua Ge Jia Ju Li Curio. Here it is:

Yep. We went there. It was AH-MAZING. I learned about this place from another blogger. Then I showed my husband and got a hearty – Hell yea! So, we showed the address to our driver and off we went with our three children. Our driver, Jason, thought we were insane. Crazy laowai poring through buildings full of Chinese junk. It was fun having him along. He explained some items to us and entertained the kids with some sword fighting and accordion playing.

We spent about two hours there, and I could’ve spent more time. The kids got itchy (bugs), sniffly (dust) and hungry. But we all had fun sword fighting, searching for crazy items and finally deciding upon two pieces – a Chinese drum and the “jade dragon”:

I highly recommend this trip. A great venture into the outskirts of Shanghai. Bring bug spray. And take me with you…I need to buy these:

The five stages of grief. I’ve heard it all before. As expats, we are warned about it – Denial & Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. They are lurking around every corner. Our international school held a meeting about it. Articles in expat magazines are dedicated to it. Other bloggers blog about it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here. Or here. Or here. (Some of these sites use different terminology, but you’ll get the gist of it.)

I lost my mother many years ago and there have been many situations in my life where I had to process through these stages. It’s not fun, people. My husband says I’ve hit the “wall” and I’m now experiencing this phenomenon. Maybe I have. Maybe I am. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing… life is a journey and perhaps my path has just become a bit rocky?

Am I unhappy? No! Not at all. In fact, I’m frustrated that I even have to move through these stages. Again. I’m a little tired of it all. Right now, I’m a bit isolation with a splash of anger. But at least I recognize it! I’ve kept to myself for the past couple of weeks, taking care of sick kids and adjusting to my chaotic new life. Throughout this post I will insert the stage that pertains to my thoughts…

Let’s talk about how my life has changed here in Shanghai:

Driving. We have a driver named Jason. He’s wonderful. Respectful, funny, helpful and is kind to our kids. He is also a maniacal driver, which is the norm here in Shanghai. If not, we would never get anywhere! I am not used to having a driver and believe I never will be. It sounds glamorous, but it’s not. I have to plan everything. I can’t just hop in the car and run to Target. (Wait, there is no Target here. Another way my life has changed.) I also share him with my husband which is not really an issue, rather something else to throw into the mix of my planning. It makes daily living a bit more of a challenge. I’m not surprised by how many expats just order food etc. from online markets. It just takes 3x longer to get anything done here. That’s life and I just need to accept that. (Denial.)

Shoes. I walk EVERYWHERE. Or ride my bike. Heels and bikes don’t mix. (Unless you’re Chinese. Then you can rock the heels on the bike/scooter. I’m just not there yet.) For now, I’m wearing Toms but with winter coming I need to find sensible shoes. For my enormous laowai feet. (Size 9 1/2.) My driver says there is a shoe market that caters to giant expat feet. Heading there next week to search for some walking shoes. My dilemma is – I don’t REALLY want any sensible shoes. I’m being resistant. (Denial? Anger?) Maybe I SHOULD wear heels when riding my bike while carrying wine. In the water bottle holder. Who knew wine would fit there? I learn something new every day.

Cleanliness. We remove our shoes in the house for a reason. The Chinese believe (very strongly) in expelling phlegm from their bodies. I’ve read that they do so because they want to expel evil spirits from their throats. Whatever. They do it because they are always coughing from the pollution and smoking. So, they spit. Everywhere. I just don’t get it. (Anger?) Then there’s the public urination. (ANGER.) So, shoes off people. I’m ok with this, except now that it’s getting colder we all need slippers! I need to head to the copy market and pick up some FUGGS. Fake UGGS.

Pollution. Ahhh…air. Don’t take it for granted. This week has been bad here in Shanghai. AQI over 250 – nothing compared to Beijing – but horrible nonetheless. This is bad, bad pollution. Indoor recess kind of pollution. PM 2.5. Particles small enough to invade your lung tissue and never, ever leave. This is not pollen or dust. Rather teeny tiny cancer-causing particles of doom. And the smell. When I was riding my bike home from school last night with my daughter, the brown air just smelled so bad. AQI was around 280. Gross. (Anger.) It’s saddening because our family will leave here someday, escape the poisonous air. The Chinese can’t. They live here, and don’t notice how horrible it is. It’s become their reality and that just upsets me (Depression?) I’ve been wheezing and coughing this week, and have two children doing the same. I ordered Vogmasks and hope they arrive soon.

Food. Can you really grow organic foods in China? Doubtful. Some farms do their best with what they have, but food here is a concern. I can’t over think it. I choose to buy from a variety of different sources, to vary our diets. (Denial?) Certain grocery chains here have had issues with chicken and other meats being out of date. Now my ayi has me worried about bird flu and it’s effect on chicken. She told me yesterday that chicken was bad to eat again. (If you aren’t up on your Chinese food scares, the bird flu affects chicken meat and most people did not eat chicken earlier this year. Or pork because of the dead pigs in the river. It’s been a banner year, China.) Apparently, bird flu (H7N9) has returned down south. She’s worried that history will repeat itself and wants to keep my family healthy. I love that about her. As I have been sitting here, wallowing in my “phases” she has brought me tea and checked on me. Twice. On the flip side- there are so many delicious veggies I had never heard of before and didn’t know I liked. Lotus root? Chinese eggplant? This thing?:

All deliciously prepared by Yufen. Yesterday she made me a seafood lunch:

She said Chinese people eat the fish head to make them smart. I chose not to, but both dishes were very tasty. The Chinese prepare so many dishes for one meal! Yufen tells me that simple, Western cooking is better. For one family dinner at her home, she might prepare 8 different dishes. Like Thanksgiving, every day.

Starting over. Nobody here knows really me. That’s so hard. Making new friends is hard work. (Isolation.) I’m trying to keep busy, making plans with friends. I’ve met some amazing women and men here (shout out to my guy tais!) and I’m working on my circle. People I can depend on for help, encouragement, support and listening. We’re all in the same boat and looking to love our new home here in Shanghai.

Oh, China. You are an amazing country with beautiful people and so much history. I’m just trying to get to know you better. I truly want to understand you. Without judgement. Without negativity. From a place of Acceptance. Just the same way I want my new friends to understand me.

Like this:

We live in a bubble. Metaphorically speaking. Some would say we don’t even REALLY live in China. Jinqiao (“Golden Bridge”) is an expat area. I think it’s China, but then again, I don’t get out much.

Recently, I took a walking tour through a local migrant village called Sanqaio. Remember my post on Shezhuang Temple? Well, the migrant village surrounding that temple was torn down. We visited the nearby village of Sanqiao. Very close to our bubble. In fact, we walked there…from Costa Coffee. Think about it. Three blocks from an expensive international coffee chain, there is a village of 20,000 migrant worker and their families who live in crowded quarters. But guess what? They’re generally very happy.

(Note: I am not a historian. Nor do I truly understand the plight of the Chinese migrant worker. I am just sharing what I learned. Please feel free to comment if you have input! If you’re in Shanghai and would like information on the walking tours, send me a message.)

What comes to mind with the word “migrant”? For me, it’s a person from another country looking for work so he/she can support the family back home. Here in China, migrants are Chinese laborers who come to the cities looking for a better life. This is made a bit complicated by China’s hukou system. In China, citizens are issued a hukou at birth. A hukou is a kind of family registration which says where you were born, who are your family members etc. Any government benefits you might be entitled to are only available to you in your hometown. During the Mao years, if you had a countryside hukou, you could not go to a city. Not even for a visit. This was to ensure there were enough farm and laborers in the countryside to provide food and goods for the cities – and to prevent overcrowding. If you had a city hukou, you were not allowed to visit the countryside. This created the seeds of discrimination which are still around today. City vs. country.

This went on until the 1970’s when China’s Communist leaders added a dose of Capitalism into the mix. The people began migrating, looking for a better life. The first generation of migrant workers were not legally allowed to work in the cities. They were hired under the table to perform the jobs nobody else wanted – or for large scale construction projects. They were not allowed to buy a house or send their children to local schools and had inadequate healthcare. They generally lived in dorms – like the blue/white modulars we see around Shanghai today.

Most of these workers returned to their home towns after making some money, but some stayed and raised families here. The second and third generations have stayed in the city 10+ years! Since 2008, their children have been allowed to attend local schools and government is slowly creating programs to improve their lives. Affordable healthcare is still an issue, so a lot of workers will return to their homes for medical care. Since they hold a country hukou, their medical benefits are only available in their home town. The migrant workers in Sanqaio visit “barefoot doctors” at clinics like these:

Barefoot doctors were farmers who received basic medical training so they could provide care for their village. This practice started in the early 30’s but gained momentum under Mao. Technically, they don’t exist anymore, (ahem) but somebody works here to provide for basic medical needs.

Pop-Up Job Agencies advertise for day laborers and other jobs:

Some of these ads are looking for factory workers, street cleaners and even a DJ Princess at a karaoke bar. Although it sounds glamorous, the DJ Princess is just a glorified lap dancer. Prostitution is illegal, but largely ignored. During our walk I saw some “working girls” just hanging out. My favorite was wearing a short skirt, nylons and Nikes. Practical.

(Note: Some ads are looking for women who have “Standard Features”. What are they, you might ask? Well…according to our Chinese guide, standard features are as follows: face shaped as a sunflower seed, eyebrows like willow tree leaf, eyes like almonds, nose like a green onion and mouth small and pink like a cherry. Totally attainable, right?)

A street cleaner might make 300 kuai a month, but a single room costs 350 kuai a month. That’s why so many family members live together in apartments like these:

Sigh. I need time to process the remaining information. Stay tuned for Part 2. I’m looking forward to sharing the success stories of some of these hardworking migrant families.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited some hospitals with a group of friends. We thought it would be great to be prepared, you know, just in case. As we wandered around the different facilities – some ok, some not – I just kept hoping we would never REALLY need to visit one. Well, yesterday, I did.

My daughter fell at school and split open her eye.

Let me set the scene…I had been home for a week with my 10 year old who had an unspecified bacterial infection. A common practice in Chinese hospitals is to offer IV medications for EVERYTHING. We saw this at some of the hospitals we visited, rows of chairs with IV poles just waiting for customers. I declined the offer to have my 10 year old started on IV medications. Oral antibiotics are good enough my my family. Even though there were Chinese antibiotics, what what’s a girl gonna do? She needed them!

My 13 year old had been out sick from school the day before AND my husband was out of town. I really needed a break, so a friend agreed to meet me around 2:00 for a late lunch. I was really looking forward to it. I rode my bike to the restaurant and was waiting outside when I heard a large crack and scream. Two scooters had crashed and sent one passenger flying through the air. (Bad omen.) The driver was ok. She was just scratched up and her scooter was trashed. Nobody called the police, just literally picked up the pieces of her broken scooter and limped away.

Back to my story…my friend and I ordered some snacks and drinks and were settling into a nice conversation when my cell phone rang. The middle school was calling. The nurse, in an irritatingly calm voice, told me that my daughter had fallen and had a cut over her eye. She paused then told me to come get her and bring her to the hospital. Sure. How? On my bike? Off I zoomed to school, calling my driver along the way. When I got to the nurse’s office I found my daughter swollen and bleeding from a gash on her eyelid. Since I had just visited hospitals, I knew the closest one was Ruidong. (You can find it on Facebook – 瑞東醫院 – no lie. This Chinese hospital is on Facebook. The photos are, well, interesting to say the least.)

The school nurse called to make sure there was a surgeon there – one who could suture her face. After waiting for the driver, we rode to the hospital.

Now, there are some who might say that the hospital I chose is NOT a Chinese hospital. (There are some who say we don’t even really live in China, since we live in such an international area. But I beg to differ. It’s totally China.) This hospital is Chinese, but has an international floor. We arrived and went up to the second floor where they asked for my insurance card and daughter’s passport. (I keep shrunken copies of passports in my wallet for this purpose.) After a bit of Chinese/English discussion, we saw the doctor. He was very kind, mid-50’s…I have no idea what his name was. He brought my daughter to the exam table which was in his actual office, behind his desk. He examined her eyelid and explained that she needed sutures. He could do this “plastic surgery” for her. No problem. What followed is pretty standard procedure – lidocaine injection into her eyelid, cleaning of the wound, two layers of sutures etc. He asked her constantly if she was in any pain. He did a nice job, as far as I could tell. Was it completely sterile? Probably not. Is sweat sterile? The sweat dripping from his brow was everywhere, but I didn’t actually see any land in the wound. He also covered her face with a drape. Sterile? Probably not. And difficult for her to breathe under, so I held up the corner so she could get some air. He put her on antibiotics and asked that she come back the next day so he could clean and re-dress the wound.

This is where it got funny. After he prescribed the antibiotics, he looked at me and said, “no alcohol with this medicine”. I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. He turned to the nurse for translation help, then turned to my daughter and said “no beer with this medicine.” He was serious! Beer for my 13 year old? Too funny.

When we returned the next day, they were careful to take my insurance card copy again. They are obsessed with payment here. Some hospitals require cash payment up front and all ambulances require cash at pick up. This hospital accepted debit cards, so I knew I was ok.

We go back in two weeks for suture removal. Right now, she looks like Frankenstein with purple eyeshadow. Her friend brought by a pirate eye patch today…how cute is that? Seriously, my girl is a trooper. Being in a foreign country in an unfamiliar medical environment and getting 12 stitches was a lot for me to handle – and I wasn’t even the patient!

I am thankful that we did the hospital tour and I successfully navigated through this medical crisis. I didn’t do it alone. My new “China family” was there to help me out – my driver, ayi, neighbors and other friends who offered to round up my other two children while I was at the hospital. A hearty shout out to my neighbor, Len, who delivered an emergency Stella Artois last night. Not for my daughter, though. She’s on antibiotics.

I am not experiencing writer’s block. I believe its writer’s overload. There are so many things I want to write about…I have no idea where to start. Another issue I’m having is how to balance the diverse experiences I’m having – migrant village walking tour vs exotic trip to Bali. How can both of these things be a part of my new reality in China? Another issue – who is my audience? It’s not just family, as I now have over 400 followers from seven countries. Strangers don’t really care about my family’s daily adventures, or do they? (If you want to follow our daily observations, you can just “friend” me on Facebook. Meggan De Jesus, Shanghai, China. Today’s post was a photo of a gigantic Chinese grapefruit. Riveting.)

Today, as I am still sifting through the many ideas in my head, I thought I would share my China reading list. These are the books I have read about China (and other parts of Asia). Funny thing, about 5 years ago I went through a Chinese historical fiction phase! I have reread some of those books and they are on the list too.

Here is my list, in order of importance. At least, from my perspective. You can also find my list on Goodreads. Happy reading!

Life and Death in Shanghai Nien Cheng

Shanghai Girls Lisa See

Dreams of Joy Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Sijie Dai

Red Scarf Girl By: Ji-Li Jiang (This is a good read for tweens/teens)

When My Name was Keoko Linda Sue Park

Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odessy from North Korea to Freedom in the West Blaine Harden

To Read:

The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck (Bella read this in school, and found it quite difficult to get through)

The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed Michael Meyer

The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze & Back in Chinese Time Simon Winchester

Bound Feet & Western Dress , Pang-Mei, Natasha Chang

Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China John Pomfret

The Private Life of Chairman Mao Li Zhisui (Ive been told this one is quite graphic)

China is old. Very, very old. My new friends and I discovered a bit of “recent” Chinese history today during a short bike ride to the Shezhuang Temple in Jinqiao – literally a block away from our very modern neighborhood. My use of the word “recent” is relative as this temple was built in the late 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty.

I was told about the temple from a neighbor, who found it on a bike ride. Then, I read a blog written by another neighbor – Lost in Shanghai – in which he describes his visit and tells the history of the temple. Check out his blog.

Anyway, to reach the temple, we had to cross a 4 lane road which is a very dangerous undertaking in Shanghai. Once we made it across, a quick left down a dirt road brought us by the few remaining migrant homes. We turned a corner past a pile of trash and found ourselves right in front of the temple. I didn’t take photos of the squalid remains of the migrant village, that topic deserves it’s own post. Check out the photos of what it used to look like: Shezhuang Temple. This two minute YouTube video is enlightening – Future of Shezhuang Temple.

The temple was built to honor a generous man, named JinSan, who became a local hero. He was the official of the Granary and while transporting grain up the river, he distributed some to the starving people living there. Before the Imperial Court could carry out their death sentence for such a crime, he committed suicide.

The temple is beautiful in it’s own way. Sure, it’s dirty, but it is well-maintained and used for festivals. Today, the only other person there was a woman working selling incense.

My friend, Lan, purchased some incense for us all and explained that the people would light three sticks of incense, bow three times, say a prayer – always praying for someone else, never for yourself – bow three more times, then put the incense out in one of these:

We wandered around the temple, talking and appreciating the beauty of this deserted place in the middle of the modern city. The area surrounding the temple is covered in rubble, awaiting some kind of new development. Today, I also read this blog post about a migrant area that was just torn down – Hunting Cheese in China – strange coincidence. This city is growing way too fast…

Enjoy the rest of these photos. I’m looking forward to more of these everyday adventures during my time here. I want to see it all – the good, the bad and the dusty/grimy beauty of ancient history.

The three “spikes” on top are a sign of sorts – telling those who want to enter that they must leave their weapons outside.

Like this:

I’ve been so busy settling in here, I’m sorry I’ve neglected my blog. I have been adding to my list of observations to share with you. Today’s choice is one of a practical nature. Since moving to China, I often tell my children that things here are “different – not worse, not better – just different”. One of those things is toileting. (Not sure if that’s a real word, but I’m using it.)

In our newly constructed home, we have a Japanese-style toilet, also called a washlet. 72% of Japanese households have Japanese bidet-style toilets. What are those, you might ask? Well, they are very efficient in cleaning you up. (Sorry, Charmin, but it’s true.) They can: wash, dry and warm up your bottom with the touch of a button. There are different levels of water pressure and different temperatures. There is also a safety feature, so if you hop off the commode unexpectedly, the water won’t shoot up and hit the ceiling. (However, due to the water pressure on your bottom, you MAY just jump off the seat unexpectedly!) I’m not sure why ours is in a glass room, but it is.

The washlet is not the traditional facility used in China. That would be the squat toilet, aka the “squattie”. This one is quite nice:

Not sure how to use one? Here you go:

Westerners are generally confused by this type of toilet. I decided to learn a bit more about this type of toilet vs. the one we are used to. What I learned is that the squat toilet is much better for you, as a human being. It’s true. If you’re looking for some more information, read this: http://www.naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html. Apparently, the seated position can (allegedly) cause a host of medical conditions such as hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, appendicitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Check it out if you’re interested. Squatties are tough for people with knee problems, but I suppose that if you’ve used one from childhood, you’d have developed the right muscles? Oh, and don’t forget to bring your own TP.

Our toilet is very modern and cutting edge. However, most areas of Shanghai are not quite as modern. Most homes in China’s urban neighborhoods are shared by multiple families and have no bathroom facilities. Some streets (called lanes) share public toilets, which are free and maintained by the government. For overnight use, there are chamber pots, which are cleaned in the morning at the free toilet facility:

There are no laws against public “toileting” in China, which is infuriating to me. I can handle the toddler’s split pants:

(Although I find photos of Chinese babies with their little bottoms poking out of their split pants completely adorable – I refrained from posting any!)

Or even the little boys peeing indiscriminately into fountains, onto trees or into gutters. Again, no photos. I do have standards!

However, I cannot understand how grown men, in a very clean neighborhood, can just pee against the outside wall of a compound, essentially on the sidewalk, while smoking a cigarette. No. I do not have a photo. If you need one as proof, I swear I could go out and take one today. No lie. It’s that common. Seriously guys? REALLY?

If you think that urinating in a public place, against a wall while smoking a cigarette is a challenge, consider this: the trifecta of toileting. A new friend shared that he saw a man, on a squattie doing three things at the same time: using the squattie the way it was intended, smoking a cigarette, and reading a newspaper. Mad skills, dude. Thank God, no photo.

Like this:

I’ve had laundry on my mind. Not because I have to do it, but because I have NOT had any to do! We do have a wonderful ayi who works very hard keeping us in clean clothes, but until this weekend, we had very few clothes to wear. Then our sea shipment arrived. All you expats out there are shouting, “It’s like Christmas!” I’m thinking, “Why do I need this stuff?” I survived just fine on one pair of yoga pants, 3 pairs of shorts, assorted sleeveless tops and sandals. Now I have jeans, sweaters, fleece things, socks, pajamas, more yoga pants, jackets, coats, blouses…and a sparkly teal 80’s formal dress. Don’t judge.

Last week I went on a walking tour of the Former French Concession (stay tuned for my “Brief History of Shanghai” post to learn more). We saw lots of laundry hanging out to dry, as is the norm here in China. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday you can see our clothing on racks outside on our back deck. It never occurred to me that there might be a reason – other than just a cultural thing – for putting it all out there, so to speak. Let me tell you what I learned.

Our tour guide told us that the Chinese people believe that the sun disinfects their clothing. They hang it out whenever they can. I wondered if there was any truth to this? This is what I learned. Apparently, when you air dry your clothes in the sun they are naturally disinfected and whitened. Not sterilized, just disinfected. The sun provides UV light, and UV can be used to disinfect water and damp laundry. UV from the sun also interferes with the reproduction cycle of bacteria by damaging their DNA. The Chinese also frequently wash their shoes and put them out to dry. This also makes previously smelly shoes, less smelly.

The Chinese people have been connected to laundry for a very long time. Every wonder why? Early Chinese immigrants to the United States had a very tough time finding jobs due to their lack of English language skills and plain old racism. As a result, they started turning to laundry work, which was considered low status because it was “women’s work”. Laundry work required long days of exhausting manual labor over kettles of boiling water and hand irons heated on stoves. By the 1870’s, Chinese laundries were operating in all towns with Chinese populations.

The case of the Yick Yo laundry really shows the discrimination against the Chinese people in California. In the late 1800’s, the white people of San Francisco lobbied for a law requiring that all laundry businesses be housed in brick buildings, thereby making it impossible for the Chinese laundry owners to afford rebuilding their businesses. Chinese business owners decided to fight back. They argued that the law was inherently discriminatory, and won! They got to stay and run their businesses.

The advent of the electric washing machine was the demise of the Chinese laundry. There are still some in the US, I read about one in Brooklyn, NY.

Remember the old Calgon ad? Ancient Chinese secret? It must be the air-drying. Shhh…don’t tell.

Before moving to Shanghai, I was faced with the oft-asked question, “Aren’t you worried about moving to China?” I honestly responded with, “Not really.” I may have been lying a bit. Honestly, the thought of moving across the world did frighten me a bit, but a lot less than I truly thought it would. My main concerns were (and are) air quality and food. Yep. Those are two very important issues – especially with three children. Today I will focus on food.

Food. I have a lot to say about the food in Shanghai, some of it is nice and some of it is not. For the nice…we live in a very international area. I can walk to restaurants that serve the following types of cuisine: Mexican, Italian, Thai, Pizza, Melbourne-ian (not sure what kind of food that might be?), Japanese, Chinese (the kind that us mei guo ren are used to), real Chinese, Spanish, American and Indian. Whew, did I miss anything?

We also have some expat grocery stores which offer a wide range of different products for most of the above mentioned cuisines: The Pines, City Shop, Ole and The Times. There is also Metro, the Chinese cousin of Costco. It’s decent, and you can find 100 kilo bags of dumpling flour alongside tiny jars of Skippy peanut butter. So far, so good.

There are also the wet markets. I’ve only been to one so far. It’s where my ayi purchases her dumpling ingredients. Let me tell you about it. It’s on Yunshan Lu (in case you want to try it someday) and consists of a variety of vendors selling anything fresh – seafood, pork, chicken, veggies and dumpling and wonton wrappers. We went there to get pork dumpling ingredients and some chicken to make soup. Ayi goes to the same vendors every time. We went over to the pork lady and she grabbed two pork loins (with her bare hands) and tossed them into a meat grinder. Needless to say, the equipment is not inspected. Ever. Or possibly cleaned. Ever. We paid a very small sum and went to find the chicken vendor. He was not there, and since we did not have time for the other guy to “make” me a chicken, we decided there would be no soup and moved on. (Yes, I meant to say “make me a chicken” as there were many chickens hanging out, waiting for a chance to be soup. We didn’t have time for that.) The dumpling lady had all different shapes and sizes of dumpling skins – all freshly made and very good.

My least favorite place to shop would have to be Carrefour. Really, I’d rather buy my pork from dirty-grinder lady than from Carrefour. In other countries, Carrefour is a well-respected grocery store. In Shanghai, it’s a crowded, smelly purveyor of questionable perishable goods. There is a small expat area where you can purchase a bottle of Hershey syrup for $10US. You can also buy many housewares (think Walmart) and cleaning supplies, bicycles, luggage, small appliances and dry goods. For those items, Carrefour is fine. For the fresh stuff? I’m skeptical. Let me describe the scene…

In the meat department, you have two choices. First, there is the wrapped meat section, where you can buy meats wrapped in plastic a’ la the USA. The cartoon characters show you the part of the animal from where the meat has come. (The cartoon pigs are usually smiling, which just makes me sad.) There are also some imported Australian meats and Tyson chicken. There are also entire chickens that are lying end to end, hanging out waiting to be soup. I swear they were looking at me. There is also the interesting looking black chicken, which is more expensive than the regular kind.

The second meat area has butchers in white coats, cleavering everything in sight. The meat they are cutting does not end up in sterile containers, rather in piles of meat. Yep. Just piled out there for everyone to handle. Which they do. Picture this: you are shopping for the perfect apples at your favorite grocery store. You pick some up, dig down for the less bruised ones, then toss them in your bag. Now picture that with meat. Raw meat. Sigh. I know, I know. Americans are germ-phobes. Blah blah blah. Maybe so, but come on now. It is just too much for me.

I refer to this as “meat hands”. This is how I see it…the customers dig through the meat to choose their favorite pieces, then take their “meat hands” and head over to produce where they touch everything thereby spreading the meatiness all over. Then off to the other departments where they do the same. On and on. All day. Every day. Somebody hand me the purell.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this is bad. It’s… Just. So. Different. Sometimes different is good. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s funny, like the dried fish and banana buns I saw today. I’m sure that the Chinese think the things we eat are completely disgusting and laugh behind our backs. I’m OK with that.

Enjoy these yummy treats I’ve found at local grocery stores. Bon appetit!